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Rum Review: Diplomatico Reserva 8 Anos

Many months ago I opened my blog with 16 rum reviews which I had written as mad ramblings on the Ministry of Rum. At the time I had no intention of ever being a spirits writer, I was just sharing my thoughts on various rums using my own unique system of scoring and basically having fun. Included in those sixteen reviews were my early reviews of Diplomatico Anejo, and Diplomatico Exclusiva Reserva. Although the reviews were in many ways cursory, and lacking depth, they nonetheless were noticed by the importers of Diplomatico in my home province, (PB Beverages) and a solid friendly relationship was established. Then recently, I was given a bottle of Diplomatico Reserva, and asked to provide a review such that all three of the major Diplomatico products would be present on my Blog. There is no point denying my pleasure at this request. Diplomatico is one of my most favoured spirits companies when it comes to deep rich flavourful rum. So I accepted the rum sample with no hesitation, and after spending some time getting to know the Reserva, I am happy to share the results of my review with you.

2 Responses to “Rum Review: Diplomatico Reserva 8 Anos”

Capn Jimbosaid

Hello Chip, and good luck on your upcoming Pirate rum fest. I know you’ve taken some heat on the pirate theme, but that wouldn’t include the Bilgemunky or me – we love pirates!

Back to business.

At The Rum Project (link to Diplomatico review above), my tasting partner, Sue Sea, and I have tasted and reviewed many rums. One of the first was Diplomatico.

Please recall too our past discussion about the elephant in the rum room: namely, the unadmitted adulteration of many rums with all manner of flavorings (mostly artificial), sugar, spices and other additives to artificially create a preferred taste profile.

Diplomatico would be a good example. Like Zaya it is sweet – SWEET I say! – more like a dessert liqueur. Did I say it’s sweet? Think butterscotch or maple syrup. Lots of it.

It is patently obvious that this rum is heavily flavored, yet you’d never know that from the label. Don’t get me wrong, I occasionally have a real sweet tooth for such altered rums. Zaya, for example, is a particular favorite of mine. Love it.

The bottom line is this: the distillers aren’t talking and I believe we reviewers owe it to the reading public to share our honest opinions when we believe a rum has been altered, particularly when the rum is not so labeled.

I am not alone in my opinion of Zaya and Diplomatico insofar as being seriously flavored.

Now the last time we communicated I queried you about Zaya, which you hadn’t (and still haven’t tasted). Fortunately, you have here reviewed Diplomatico and I would be remiss if I didn’t ask again:

If you go to the Distilleries Unitas S.A. (DUSA) website (just use the link in my review), and click on the tab that says Quality. When you read the quality disclaimer that they themselves publish it says,” Only High quality distilled alcohols, and rich aromas and flavours are used to manufacture rums….” To me this is a clear and honest statement from the rum maker’s website that aromatic agents and flavouring agents are added. They also make the claim, “We comply with all legal specifications and regulations.”

This is probably analogous to Canadian Whisky where it is allowed by law to add such flavouring ingredients to the whisky. Does this make Canadian whisky adultered? Some would say yes, some would say that if the added ingredients fall within the specified legal definition of Canadian whisky then we cannot call it adultered. All I can say with any amount of certainty is that I believe Diplomatico makes their rum complying with the legal definitions of rum manufacture in their jurisdiction. They appear to have open and honest disclosure statements upon their website. And the Diplomatico rums I have tasted have all been very delicious.

I am not sure what else you expect. I certainly didn’t think the matter was important enough to discuss in the review, as in my reviews I prefer to concentrate on my enjoyment of the spirit.